With lacquered curls spiraling across her forehead, a dark and smoky gaze, and a megawatt smile, FKA twigs has all but disappeared into Josephine Baker. The first image of the British musician as the legendary entertainer in the forthcoming biopic Josephine Baker has arrived, and if this is anything to go by, we’re in for an on-screen beauty transformation for the ages.
In the image, twigs stands atop a dining table, twisting into a playful pose in a pink, crystal-strewn flapper dress with delicate beading and fringe. But it’s the beauty that really transports us to 1920s Paris. Her hair has been molded into an ultra-glossy, close-cropped style, with elaborate kiss curls arranged across her forehead and temples. Her eyes are rimmed with smoldering shadow, her brows sharply defined, and her lips painted a rich red. It’s classic Baker, down to the mischievous expression.
After all, few performers have left such an enduring mark on beauty history. Baker’s signature Eton crop, sculpted finger waves, and intricate S-shaped kiss curls helped define the Jazz Age. She understood the transformative potential of hair and makeup: brows drawn into fine, expressive arches, heavily kohled eyes, and dark, precisely shaped lips. Hers was a highly theatrical, unapologetically glamorous approach to beauty, one that challenged conventional standards and continues to inform red-carpet trends a century later.
You need only look at the recent Met Galas for proof. At the 2025 event, Baker’s influence was everywhere: Dua Lipa, Sydney Sweeney, and Coco Jones were among those sporting intricate forehead curls, while Gigi Hadid and twigs herself paid tribute to the entertainer through their clothing. The following year, the kiss curl remained a red-carpet fixture, appearing in elaborate interpretations on Lisa and Kylie Jenner. Elsewhere, Ayo Edebiri, Odessa A’zion, and Chappell Roan have all experimented with variations of the look in 2026.
A fellow dancer, singer, and consummate performer, twigs has long treated beauty as an extension of her artistic expression, experimenting with sculptural hairstyles and otherworldly makeup. Baker was celebrated for an exuberant, often comedic stage persona, finding ways to subvert the expectations and racial stereotypes imposed upon her. Their aesthetics aren’t identical—twigs gravitates toward the experimental and occasionally surreal, where Baker delighted in humor and Jazz Age showmanship—but both understand the power of a carefully constructed image.
(Eingeschränkte Rechte für bestimmte redaktionelle Kunden in Deutschland. Limited rights for specific editorial clients in Germany.) Josephine Baker, (*03.06.1906 – 12.04.1975+) , Dancer and singer, USA / France, performing in Paris, – published in the ‘Berliner Morgenpost’, 14.11.1926 (Photo by ullstein bild via Getty Images)ullstein bild Dtl./Getty Images
